FEATURE:
The Marvelous Rachel Brosnahan
IN THIS PHOTO: Rachel Brosnahan preparing for the 2023 Met Gala/PHOTO CREDIT: The Emma Experience (via Town & Country)
Incredible Women in Film and a Huge Talent with a Directing Future
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I think that…
PHOTO CREDIT: Dana Scruggs/The New York Times/Redux (via Vanity Fair)
there is going to be a lot of focus on the film industry next year. After a difficult year where there have been strikes, disputes and disruption, there will be a new burst of activity and success. Whereas we yearn for a day when we should not divide directors and actors in terms of gender when we talk about accomplishment, there is no doubt this year has been one where incredible women have created some of the very best films. From Selina Song’s Past Lives to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, there have been some captivating films by female filmmakers. There are wonderful rising filmmakers to look out for. I think that there is still disparity and inequality in the film industry. In terms of the pay gap being wide and not challenged the way it should be. Not enough support from the industry. Wonderful actresses not getting the same dues as their male counterparts. Elle published a recent article that talked about the bleak realities of disparity behind the camera – and the women who are fighting for equality, change and recognition:
“Barbie made progress look so painless. In Greta Gerwig’s $1.4 billion-dollar-grossing worldwide blockbuster, the Barbies of Barbie Land operated under the blissful belief that sexism didn’t exist. The presidency, the Supreme Court, Nobel Prize winners, construction workers, doctors—all female. This was a fantasy sold by a toy company, of course, but an eerily convincing one. And its magic seemed to translate directly to our world when, in July 2023, Gerwig celebrated the biggest debut in box office history for a female-directed film, after years of well-publicized industry initiatives on behalf of the post–#MeToo, post–Time’s Up, post–#OscarsSoMale era. Gerwig’s extraordinary success seemed the sort of bellwether women behind the camera in Hollywood had long awaited.
“I cried, because I feel like a new precedent has been set,” says director, writer, and producer Emma Seligman (Bottoms; Shiva Baby). “Even if I know there’s so much conversation around what that means.”
“What that means” remains the sticking point. Barbie’s utopia provided an uncanny blueprint for the state of Hollywood today, wherein rose-colored lenses obscure a harsher truth. “Just a few high-profile cases can skew our perceptions of reality,” says Martha M. Lauzen, PhD, a professor at San Diego State University and founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. And the reality is indeed darker than Barbie’s success might suggest. “We don’t want to think that we have seen such minimal progress in a quarter of a century,” Lauzen adds. “But the numbers tell the story. The numbers don’t lie.”
IN THIS PHOTO: Emma Seligman/PHOTO CREDIT: Hunter Abrams for Vanity Fair
Every year, USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, a think tank led by researcher Stacy L. Smith, PhD, analyzes the 100 highest-earning fictional films. In 2022, 9 percent of the top films were directed by women, an increase of exactly 1 percent from the number of female directors in 2008—14 years earlier. In 2019, the advocacy group WIF estimated that even if the number of female directors increased by 25 percent every five years (and to be clear, that’s unlikely to happen), we’d have to wait until 2072 to reach parity.
Even in the wider world of television, women’s employment behind the scenes is far from representative. According to Lauzen’s research, in the 2021–22 broadcast and streaming season, 92 percent of the TV programs sampled featured zero female directors of photography; 79 percent had no female directors; 71 percent had no female creators; and 65 percent had no female writers. “Given the countless industry panels gender parity has received one would expect greater movement,” Lauzen says. “One of the things that has been so remarkable is the relative stability of most of the numbers.” Those numbers have held firm even as entertainment execs, advocacy associations, and awards shows have basked in the good press garnered by films like Patty Jenkins’s 2017 Wonder Woman or the Oscar wins of Kathryn Bigelow, Chloé Zhao, and Jane Campion. As Smith puts it, “This is why, unless you rely on the data, it’s just a lot of talk, talk, talk.”
IN THIS PHOTO: Greta Gerwig/PHOTO CREDIT: Ellen Fedors for Rolling Stone
Over the past six years, Hollywood’s publicity machine has made the case for cautious optimism. The #MeToo movement, first popularized in 2017, rooted out bad men in power, and the hope was that women would rise to replace them. And per Lauzen’s research, the number of women employed in behind-the-scenes roles on top-grossing films did increase by 6 percent between 2017 and 2022. The same metric jumped 10 percent across streaming TV programs and 4 percent across broadcast.
“It happens every 10 or 12 years: Some very ‘female’ movie has this giant moment,” says writer, executive producer, and showrunner Rachel Shukert (The Baby-Sitters Club; GLOW), citing the commotion following both Barbie and 2011’s Bridesmaids—ironically, a film directed by a man. “It’s like a swinging door—someone pushes it wide open, and it starts to close. It’s like, ‘Can you run through before it closes?’”
Bisha K. Ali considers herself one of the lucky few to have sprinted through such an opening. The British-Pakistani writer and showrunner left her career in UK television behind for L.A. in 2018. Within a year, she’d clinched the head writer role on the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel. Looking back, she’s convinced she might never have won such an opportunity had she not entered Hollywood during a “golden, shiny time where there was so much money, so many shows…and there [were] risks being taken,” making “allowance for people like me”.
I am going to write more about Hollywood’s gender divide and how there is little progress from those in power. It is a similar situation in music. I know that this is me stepping outside of music but, as I have a lot of respect and admiration for an actor and producer who I feel is going to be a director to watch next year, I am spending some time with Rachel Brosnahan. Rather than look more widely at the women in Hollywood who are going to affect change through the industry – which I shall do at a later date -, there is one incredible talent who I feel is primed to have a long and varied career as a director. As founder of Scrap Paper Pictures, Brosnahan takes projects from women at the ‘scrap paper’ stage; developing them though to production and release. It is a way that she can help foster and support original and ambitious women in the industry who may not otherwise have this bespoke and supportive hand. Someone everyone should follow, most might know her from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Playing the eponymous character, the series (created by Amy Sherman-Palladino) followed Rachel Brosnahan playing a housewife, ‘Midge’, in New York who embarks on a career in comedy. We follow her professional and personal life through the late-1950s and early-1960s. It ended this year after its fifth season. The ending and resolution is magnificent and, without spoiling anything, you do get something hopeful and positive – the character is going to go to better things. A phenomenal series that is much missed and one of the best in years, to me it was Brosnahan’s mix of talents and emotions that made Mrs. Maisel such a compelling and rounded character!
I know there were plans and rumours that she would direct. There were projects that people thought she was attached to. As a producer and actor, she has a busy schedule coming up. Brosnahan is based in New York. Somewhere I dream of working and living, she has inspired me to go beyond music journalism and think more deeply about film. Whilst it is unlikely a project I am working on will ever make its way to Scrap Paper Pictures -as a male screenwriter, it would not get past the first hurdle -, I do recognise that Brosnahan is a phenomenal director in the making. One of the most versatile and accomplished actress, I am looking forward to seeing what her year ahead holds. Currently filming The Amateur, there will be more T.V. and theatre world in 2024. I do think that there are projects that Rachel Brosnahan would add her distinct vision and voice to. There as-yet-untapped female directors like Margot Robbie who have this passion and wonderful talent on screen that you can see being mirrored behind the camera. I love Brosnahan’s work, so I would be really excited to see the potential films she helms. I will continue this thread and wrap things up soon. I want to bring in a couple of interviews from this year where Rachel Brosnahan spoke about The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the series coming to an end. In May, Brosnahan spoke with Variety about the finale and a late scene in the final episode where Midge performs this stunning improvised stand-up routine that gets her noticed (and drops jaws):
“What was it like saying that final “Tits Up”?
Oh, man, hard. Alex and I couldn’t even look at each other that day. We shot that scene on the last day. We came in for rehearsal early in the morning, and we literally couldn’t look at each other. I was looking at Alex’s forehead and she was looking at my chin or something. We just blocked it out for the crew, and tried to save it for when we had to shoot that final piece together.
It was emotional for everyone. But it was really special because we got to close out the chapter together with almost every part of the family, and almost everyone who had been there on the show over multiple seasons. We had to land the plane together, have our big feelings together and say goodbye to this thing that has changed all our lives. It was the perfect way to end.
It really cracks the audience’s hearts open, because as you’re performing that final four minutes, we’re also seeing the growth, and memories from the series rush back. When did Amy and Dan tell you that this would be how things end?
IN THIS PHOTO: Rachel Brosnahan (Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel) in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel series finale episode, Four Minutes/PHOTO CREDIT: Philippe Antonello/Prime Video
They didn’t really. We got the script for the final episode probably the day before the table read. The script showed up in our inboxes, and we read it and all kind of texted each other like, “Holy shit, they did it!” And what a gift to all of us.
Then, one of the greatest gifts that Amy gave to me was to let me choose what the last moment we shot would be. So, the very last shot we did was of Midge on the couch when Gordon Ford says, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Now, I’m gonna cry. It was very emotional.
How did that moment evolve from script to set? Because yes, it is already kind of perfect, but then you have to be in the moment and hear those words come from Gordon’s mouth.
There was no acting necessary. I looked out into the audience and Marin is crying, Caroline [Aaron, as Midge’s ex-mother-in-law Shirley] is crying, and Alex is crying — I couldn’t even look at Alex. Reid was such an amazing partner for that moment — shout out to him — because he was also a part of a show that went seven seasons, “Veep.” He knows what it’s like to close out a chapter this big. He was so generous that entire week, but especially that day, and especially in that moment.
IN THIS PHOTO: Rachel Brosnahan with Reid Scott (Gordon Ford) in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel series finale episode, Four Minutes/PHOTO CREDIT: Philippe Antonello/Prime Video
How did performing that four minutes stack up against all the other incredible standup runs you’ve had to do on that show? Was it high-anxiety, or did you feel very settled into it?
I felt settled into it in a way that I really wasn’t expecting, because it kept changing. Amy wanted it, rightfully, to be the perfect final set for Midge to go out on, so she was tweaking and tweaking it until about 48 hours before we shot it. So, I sat there with the script, feeling very intimidated about learning this volume of material with 48 hours to go. But I’ve always felt immensely supported by this cast and crew — and I realize what a rare gift that is — but I have never felt more a part of a team in that moment, in the hours that we spent shooting that scene.
I couldn’t help but reflect on one of the first sets that I ever shot, where I was so petrified, heading into this show, having no experience in comedy, not really knowing anything about the world and being surrounded by giants like Alex, Tony, Marin and Michael, who have so much experience. I remember turning to Alex during one of the earliest sets in the first season, and going, “Please don’t let me suck.” Like if you see something, say something; like, please, any advice at all, I’ll take it. And she looked at me and said, “I can’t help you. Take up your space, and ask for what you need. And bring this character into the world. Nobody knows who she is but you.”
I just was so struck by how far we’ve come, and so grateful for how far I’ve come from those earliest sets to the very end. It was really special, and just a wild experience”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Philippe Antonello/Prime Video
I am going to round things up soon. Rachel Brosnahan spoke with Vanity Fair about the finale of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, an emotional farewell, and working alongside Alex Borstein (who played Susie in the series). The more interviews I read from Brosnahan and the more I rewatch the entire series, the more she seems like someone who will both direct and also screen write. In recent years, actors like Olivia Wilde have directed and been involved with fascinating and memorable projects. I feel that Rachel Brosnahan will have a long career behind the camera:
“What surprised you about the script for the series finale?
I was surprised by how she ends up on the [The Gordon Ford Show]. But it feels so in keeping with how she stumbled onto the stage at the Gaslight in the first episode and unleashed on a hostage audience. She makes a joke about holding the Gordon Ford Show audience hostage in the finale, but she’s different now. She’s wiser and sharper and more mature and knows completely how to get what she wants.
Her act has come a long way too. How long did you get to rehearse that four minutes of material?
Oh, there was no rehearsal before the day. I probably got the final version of that set about 48 hours before we shot it. And immediately panicked that I wasn’t going to be able to learn this volume of material in such a short period of time. It was intimidating, but it’s so beautifully written and it really flows.
IN THIS PHOTO: Rachel Brosnahan and Michael Zegen (Joel Maisel) in Season 5 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel/PHOTO CREDIT: Philippe Antonello/Prime Video
You’ve been playing Midge for six years. Do you feel more comfortable doing stand-up than you did when you started?
A little bit, but one of the gifts of working on this show has been that they never allowed any of us to get comfortable. Every time you think you have a grasp on who your character is or the technical elements of playing them, like doing standup, they throw you for a loop. The final set was, I think, the longest one I’ve ever done with very little time to learn it. And a lot of the folks who were sitting in the audience that night had never seen me do stand-up before the show—Kevin [Pollak] and Caroline [Aaron]. It had been a long time since Michael Zegen had seen it. Tony [Shalhoub] has only been there one time in season two. So it was very intimidating to look out at our Maisel family. But also I felt so wrapped in support and loved—it was a really special day.
Have you heard from any real-life comedians in response to your performance as a stand-up?
There’s definitely been support from the community, which I appreciate. That was the most terrifying part of stepping into Midge’s shoes: [the idea of] becoming an embarrassment to the comedians I’ve looked up to for so long. Carol Burnett and Ali Wong were so kind. . . .I watched Baby Cobra maybe a hundred times when I was preparing for the show. Chelsea Handler, Sarah Silverman have been so kind. I’ve had the privilege of meeting a few of the women I have looked up to. Either I have not been an embarrassment or they’re brilliant liars [laughs]. Hard to say”.
I wanted to start by looking once more at a disparity through Hollywood. There is still a massive issue regarding pay. In terms of recognition of women behind the scenes and opportunities, there is also another problem that is evident. One that is not really being matched by men in the industry. Rather than force aspirations on a producer and actress like Rachel Brosnahan, it is definitely something already in her sights. Maybe a project has arrived at her desk that she is attaching herself to! It is important to celebrate incredible female directors in the film industry. Whilst we should be at a point where we do not need to say, ‘women in film’ and divide genders – as it seems like they are being singled out and not seen naturally alongside men -, it is also paramount that incredible female directors are spotlighted. Even though so many tremendous films are directed by women, it is maybe not being reflected in award opportunities, pay, and the same sort of focus as male directors. I have incredible respect for amazing women throughout Hollywood. One of my absolute favourite actresses is Rachel Brosnahan. With Scrap Paper Pictures, she is also help inspire and mould other women coming through. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was a huge part of her life. When it ended this year, it was as emotional for the fans as it was for the cast and crew! A new year means new film and T.V. roles. I can see her directing Indie films and blockbusters alike. A charming New York story set in the 1980s perhaps? So many projects that you can imagine her bringing to the big screen. It will be exciting thinking about Rachel Brosnahan and…
THE next step.